Alpha Billionaire Series
Valentine’s Day Proposal Chapter 19

CHARLES

When I woke up, Willow was still sleeping. It was peaceful watching her resting, but I knew the day would pose challenges for us. Selecting outfits for events always did. She was unique, eccentric, always wearing florals or some sort of flouncy material. Peter preferred her to dress more strict-professional with business suits or tailored dresses. I didn't relish the thought of shopping with her, but I was looking forward to spending the day with her. Her tax season woes were over, and she'd allotted the next few months to campaigning with me. I had the strong urge to push a few of her dark hair out of her face, but I resisted. I had already awakened before the alarm. If I woke her five minutes before it went off, she would be upset. So, I just watched her until the alarm sounded. Her eyes fluttered open, a groggy look on her face. We'd grown accustomed to waking together in bed, me on my half of the mattress on top of the comforter, her on her side beneath it. The over-under policy had been instituted when a chronic kink in my neck made it impossible for me to sleep on the couch any longer.

"Good morning," I offered, shutting the alarm off. She yawned, closing her eyes for a few moments before she responded. I saw the dark circles under her eyes and wondered if she wasn't sleeping well.

"Yeah... shopping day. Ugh." Willow rolled to her back and stared at the ceiling. Her expression belied her distaste for the day's itinerary. Her fake smile was so obvious I chuckled.

"That excited?" I pushed myself up on an elbow and watched her roll her eyes. She was so gorgeous first thing in the morning.

"Peter is going to put me in some ridiculous suit, so yeah, not so excited." Willow sat up, draping her legs off the side of the bed. "I'll have a shower first."

I watched her walk across the room, her hips swaying as she went. She wore a pair of loose-fitting women's boxers and one of my old t-shirts. I hadn't realized she kept the ugly, stained-up thing. I got it for donating blood in college, and there it was hugging her curves like my body wanted to be. And when she vanished into the bathroom and I heard the water start running, my cock perked up and screamed at me to touch it.

I, however, being too nervous that she'd charge back out here having forgotten something, rolled out of bed and headed for the coffee maker to brew us both a cup of joe for our morning constitutional. It was our routine. She showered while I made coffee. I showered while she made her face up with all the trappings of a political wife. We bickered a bit about the day's events and started our day out right.

By the time we got to the mall, both of us were a bit irritable. Peter insisted on having a driver, which meant he was in the back of a limo with us, grilling us on our relationship and coaching us on how to act in public. We'd been over it a million times and both of us knew how to carry ourselves, but Peter cautioned that we could never be too sure.

In the first store, Willow chose the outfits she wanted, laying a dozen summer dresses over her arm while Peter chose form-fitting monotone garments that looked like they belonged on a news anchor. Willow snapped at him, insisting that her sundresses were fine, but Peter forced her to take the more formal dresses into the dressing room. I snickered at the exchange, content to wear casual slacks and a button-down dress shirt. It was what I was comfortable in, but Willow was a free spirit, creative and lively.

"She has to play the part." Peter scowled and snorted as we waited for Willow to come out dressed in one of her selections. The armchairs situated outside the women's dressing area weren't exactly comfortable, but they allowed us to get off our feet for a moment. "She's just pushing your buttons." I knew her. I knew she'd end up going along with Peter's selections if he backed off a bit. "Just tell her she looks nice and that will be the end of it."

"You know her pretty well, huh? I thought you two weren't really a thing." His insinuation that we were a thing rubbed me the wrong way.

"I know her, yes. Because we almost married once."

"Well, you're married now." He sucked in a breath to continue when Willow strolled out of the dressing room wearing a pastel yellow dress, thin ruffly straps across her creamy shoulders, that scooped into a heart-shaped neckline. Surprisingly there was no cleavage showing. And the skirt fell below where her knees were. I thought she looked beautiful, quite stunning actually. I almost whistled as I would have in former days. Instead, I held my tongue.

"What do you think?" She held her hands up and did spin, the skirt twirling out a bit. I thought it would have looked better if she hadn't lightened her hair, but my cock was not complaining. I'd have no problem flipping that skirt up and bending her over the kitchen table.

I swallowed hard, trying to force the image out of my mind as I responded. "You look great. I love it."

Her smile beamed my direction and she turned to Peter. "This would be perfect for the picnic." I knew exactly what she was doing. I had experience with her special form of "handling." She used to convince me that I liked what she liked, only I never liked it at all. I chuckled under my breath as she focused on Peter, waiting for his response.

"You do look lovely but-"

"Great. This is the one." Willow turned on a dime, dashing back into the dressing room without another peep from Peter, who scowled at me. With a little more practice he'd get to know her the way I did. I didn't fault him. They'd only just met a few months ago. "Don't look at me. You told her she looked lovely." I laughed at him and shook my head.

Peter scowled and reached for his phone as it rang. I listened to his side of the conversation, realizing we were getting dumped by him. He stood abruptly and said, "I have to go. There's an issue with the caterer for the event next weekend. I'll leave the limo here and take an Uber." He reached into his wallet and tossed a wad of cash at me. "Don't let her wear a clown suit for election night." He took off and left me waiting alone.

Willow came out time and again in more quirky clothing, but the yellow sundress was the winner. I thought she looked beautiful, and Peter had already seen it and not vomited, so it couldn't be that bad. We each chose a new suit for election night and then headed to the food court for a snack. She wanted ice cream; I wanted a bowl of steak fingers. We compromised and got a large soft pretzel with nacho cheese dip to share.

The food court was loud, making it difficult to converse well, so we sat close to each other. And the pretzel was smaller than we thought, so I let her have most of it. She joked about getting me that bowl of steak fingers, but after a few bites of the fake cheese, I'd had enough.

"It's not like it's real cheese. It's just powder that is reconstituted into something liquid like by adding hot water and stirring."

"Your anti-dairy kick is hardcore, huh?" I asked her, teasing.

She took a bite of the pretzel and dribbled the fake cheese on her chin. Without thinking, I lifted my hand to her face, cupping her cheek as I used my thumb to swipe the cheese away. For a minute, time stood still. The "arrangement" was out the window, and the only thing that was real in that moment was the woman I was in love with.

Brown doe eyes stared into mine, blinking but not turning away. The cheese wiped from her chin easily, and I could have retracted my hand, but she leaned into me. I swore I felt her lean into me. We'd had such a good afternoon together, laughing and joking at Peter's expense, it seemed a shame to just go home and bicker about dinner or whatever sports program was on the TV. I didn't want the day to end. I wanted to keep her here forever, where we felt the freedom of two friends sharing their time.

I leaned closer, feeling drawn to her, wanting to cement this moment in her mind so she knew this was not just an arrangement to me. But I was hesitant. She still wanted the money and her freedom. Could a kiss change her mind? Would it? Should I just kiss her right here, in this moment, hoping and praying that I could convince her that no matter what difficulties we had in front of us, this was not just an arrangement? This was a marriage.

Her eyes fluttered shut, her lips parting as I got closer, and just when I thought our lips would touch, I heard the nasally voice of Nina calling my name.

"Charles!" I jerked away, frustrated, and Nina waltzed over. "Charles, Peter told me you were here. He sent me to help... Oh, did I interrupt?"

The nasty smirk on her face told me she was happy to have interrupted. "No, no interruption." I grimaced and watched Willow collect herself. Either I was seeing things, or she was disappointed too. Nina's presence was not wanted or helpful, but we were stuck with her. If she didn't irritate the fuck out of me today, maybe I'd get a chance to try that kiss again tonight.